“After a long debate, it was decided to retire and fall back towards Sharpsburg.” -John Bell Hood

The mist hung ominously in the air as we drove cautiously toward the Maryland border. We traveled south once more to tour the Antietam battlefield and learn more about the bloodiest single day in American history.

Fortunately, the mist burned off by the time we reached the battlefield where we would spend the day studying the terrain under the tutelage of our guide Dennis Frye. Throughout the day it was interesting to note the dramatic changes in terrain after only a few dozen steps. The reality of these terrain changes helped us more fully comprehend and appreciate the difficulties faced by soldiers on both sides during the battle. Dennis encouraged us to “let the ground speak to us,” to give us a more active role in understanding the battle.

For me, the most meaningful part of the tour came in the late afternoon as we walked down the Sunken Road, hauntingly referred to as Bloody Lane. Standing at the bottom of the lane forced home the realities of the difficulties faced by Confederate soldiers on September 17, 1862. When positioned in the deepest section of the road, it is impossible to see over one of the embankments, over the other only with great difficulty. The lane would have been a good defense but only as long as the Confederates could hold off advancing troops, after which point it easily became a death trap. Dennis also led us to the section of the road depicted in Alexander Gardner’s famous picture of the Confederate dead awaiting burial. It was a sobering moment as our feet crunched over the rough road where so many men spent their final moments of life.

The horror present in Bloody Lane and the rest of the Antietam battlefield still maintains a hold on the American imagination and memory. We saw an example of this hold as we made our way down the Sunken Road. On our right, under the shade of a tree rested a makeshift memorial left by some well-meaning tourist. A stuffed pink teddy bear sat at the base of the tree with a typed note reading “In Remembrance of all that died here.” The homemade memorial reminded us that the Civil War still holds a sacred, almost mythological place in American memory.

It was an eye-opening tour that took us to gorily famous areas of the battlefield. The Cornfield (absent of any corn), the Dunker (or Dunkard) Church, Bloody Lane, and Burnside’s Bridge: we saw them all in the course of the day. We marveled at the beauty of the field while trying to wrap our minds around the utter destruction and carnage that had marked Antietam following the battle.

We finished the day with a stop at Nutter’s Ice Cream Parlor in Sharpsburg as we slowly brought ourselves back to the 21^st century. The ride home was filled with discussion of the motives behind many of the attacks during the battle of Antietam, and the barely contained excitement for the showers we would take once we arrived back at the Appleford. It had been a hot day, but one that we will surely remember for years to come. Next, we continue our battlefield journey to Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, Virginia where Lee made some of his most daring maneuvers during the War.

"A little hill can make a big difference." -Jim Burgess, Manassas National Battlefield Park

With an encouraging, “On to Richmond!” from Dr. Norman, we loaded the van at 7:30 a.m., headed for Manassas, Virginia. Our guide, Jim Burgess, met us at the Visitor Center and started our tour at Blackburn’s Ford where the first skirmish at Manassas took place. After a short stop and a quick look at the remains of the original road used by the Confederacy during the battle, we made our way to the famous Stone Bridge.

While most of the original bridge was destroyed in 1862 by the Confederates, the retaining wall of the bridge remains today. At that spot on July 21, 1861, Confederate Colonel Nathan “Shanks” Evans held his position against Tyler’s Union troops before learning of the attack on the unprotected Confederate left. Evans, the unsung hero of the battle, turned his forces and secured the left with a single brigade while facing the two divisions of Hunter and Heinztleman. Crossing the Stone Bridge gave us a sense of what types of obstacles faced the Union troops that morning.

However, my favorite moment of the tour came after lunch as we trekked through the woods to Sudley Springs Ford where Heintzleman and Hunter crossed into Confederate territory. At this point in the tour, Burgess allowed us to cross the ford just as the Union soldiers had done in 1862. Four of us eagerly made the attempt, envisioning the challenges of crossing the ford weighed down by military gear and weaponry. We then proceeded down the creek bed to continue the historical experience.

As we toured, Burgess retold several stories associated with the battle. Two stories in particular resonated throughout the rest of the day. The first concerned the fate of Major Sullivan Ballou, whose letter to his wife Sarah was made famous by Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary. Ballou was killed in action at Manassas and buried near the battlefield. Nearly a year later, Ballou’s grave was exhumed by Georgians who then burned Ballou’s remains in revenge for the losses they had suffered at the hands of the Rhode Islanders during First Manassas. This vindictive desecration left a sick feeling in my stomach as I remembered the loving words Ballou had written to his wife only a week prior to his death. The anecdote served to impress upon us the horrors and atrocities that emanated from the war, a reminder of the terrible powers of human beings to inflict pain on one another.

However, the day also contained stories of hope within the midst of war’s hell. We trudged past a pile of rocks that marked the former spot of the Benson family home on Christian Hill. During the battle, the Bensons found it their Christian duty to assist the wounded Union soldiers down the hill from their home, despite the fact that they themselves were loyal to the Confederacy. While giving aid, they found Union soldier James Rice who had been left for dead. The Bensons took the soldier to their own home and nursed him back to health. After the war, Rice returned to the Benson home, offering to repay their kindness through a monetary gift. The Bensons refused, claiming they had only done their duty. At Rice’s insistence, the Bensons relented by telling Rice that their church needed to be rebuilt and the congregation didn’t yet have the $1,000 necessary for the endeavor. Rice then went to his home state of Massachusetts and through a tireless effort raised over $1,100 for the Benson’s church. This story, when set next to the tragic Ballou incident, revealed that while some of the most deplorable aspects of human nature can come to the surface during war, the noblest aspects can also find space to grow.

The day ended on Henry Hill where the final phase of the battle was fought in the late afternoon on July 21. Today, a monument to Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson presides over the field. The monument itself does not resemble the ragged, thin General Jackson, but rather a steroid addicted Herculean figure upon an overly muscled horse. The monument is a prime example of the way memory has influenced the preservation of the Civil War. Today, Jackson is seen as an almost god-like hero to be worshipped, instead of the eccentric VMI professor who inspired hatred among his own students. It was a fascinating end to an interesting day.

We drove back to the Appleford that evening feeling as though we had just taken the first step in an incredible journey to follow the path of the Civil War that tore our nation apart. We will continue our journey next week to the battlefield that saw the bloodiest single day in American history: Antietam, Maryland.

"In firing his gun, John Brown has merely told what time of day it is. It is high noon." -William Lloyd Garrison

With bleary eyes and intermittent yawns, we loaded the Gettysburg Sprinter with Dr. Norman at eight a.m., settling in for the short ride to our first battlefield of the semester. We drove past the now familiar fields of Gettysburg towards Maryland with excitement dulled only slightly by the early hour. We would begin our day at the near end of the war in 1864 at Monocacy Junction. We would finish it at Harper’s Ferry where some argue, the opening shots of the Civil War were fired.

We made our first stop of the day at Monocacy, Maryland to meet with our guide Gail Stephens. Her passion for the battlefield and those who fought in the area on July 9, 1864, was evident as she led us across the fields opposite the Best House. She proceeded to explain Confederate Jubal Early’s plan to destroy the Baltimore Ohio Railroad at Monocacy in order to threaten Washington D.C. by cutting it off from the Western Front. Union Major General Lew Wallace determined to hold his position at Monocacy to keep Early and the Confederates from marching on Washington.

After touring the railway junction held by Lieutenant Davis and the Maryland and Vermont attachments, we made our way to the Thomas Farm where most of the fighting took place. The experience of standing on the same terrain as the legends Early and Wallace was truly moving. Because of Wallace’s stand at Monocacy, the Confederates lost an important day to move on Washington, ultimately leading to Early’s retreat to the Shenandoah Valley on the 12th of July. Wallace may have lost the battle, but he saved Washington that day.

Interestingly enough, the Thomas Farm is still standing as it did during the battle. Gail informed us that the Park Service is currently working on restoring the Thomas Farm in order to enhance the visitor experience at Monocacy. Visiting after the restoration is complete will be fascinating.

As we returned to the Visitor Center, we passed the Best House where, in September 1862, cigars wrapped in Lee’s plans for Antietam were found by Union soldiers and sent to D.H. Hill. This fact reminded us that the Civil War wasn’t merely a barrage of single episodic battles, but rather a continuous drama with overlapping events and places.

We left Gail Stephens and the end of the war for Dennis Frye and the beginning of the war at Harper’s Ferry around noon. After a delicious lunch in Bolivar Heights, we made our way down to Harper’s Ferry to retrace John Brown’s steps during his raid in October 1859. We stood overlooking three states (West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland) as Dennis challenged our previous assumptions about Brown and his motives for his raid. His narrative style created an experience unlike any other as we set ourselves in John Brown’s world to understand his motives and hopes for the future of slavery and America. We sat in the Engine House as Dennis recounted the tense moments leading up to Brown’s capture and the end of the raid. The silence of the room following the retelling left us all with the eerie feeling of touching an event that had happened over 150 years ago.

The ride home was filled with excited discussion interspersed with “Take Me Home Country Road” as we crossed back into Virginia and Maryland. We returned to the Appleford with a deeper knowledge of the battle at Monocacy, and a deeper appreciation of John Brown’s actions in 1859. We’ve made it through the opening scene of the war at Harper’s Ferry; it’s time to see the first action in Manassas Junction, Virginia. On to Manassas!